Paintball loaders (otherwise known and used interchangeably herein as hoppers, magazines, projectile loaders, or loaders) generally sit atop the markers and feed projectiles into the marker. These projectile loaders store projectiles and have an outlet or exit tube (outfeed tube or neck). The outlet tube is connected to an inlet tube (or feed neck) of the paintball marker, which is in communication with the breech of the marker. During the normal operation, paintballs dropped through the outlet of the loader from a paintball stack within the outlet tube and gun inlet tube. When the paintball at the bottom of the stack is dropped into the firing chamber of the paintball marker, it is replaced at the top of the stack from the supply of paintballs remaining in the loader housing, thereby replenishing the stack. Thus, the loaders act to hold and feed paintball projectiles into the breech of a paintball marker, so that the projectiles can be fired from the marker.
Many loaders contain agitators or feed systems to mix, propel, or otherwise move projectiles in the loader. This mixing is performed by an impeller, projection, drive cone, agitator, paddle, arm, fin, carrier, or any other suitable mechanism, such as those shown and described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/171,956 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,213,110; 6,502,567; 5,947,100; 5,791,325; 5,954,042; 6,109,252; 6,889,680; and 6,792,933; the entire contents of all of which are incorporated by reference herein. In “gravity feed” hoppers, a hopper has no moving parts, and paintballs fall into an outfeed tube by gravity. In “agitating” loaders, an agitator mixes projectiles so that no jams occur at the exit opening of the outlet tube. In “force feed” or “active feed” paintball loaders, the agitator or feeder (drive cone, carrier, paddle, or any other force feed drive system) forces projectiles through the exit tube. As the firing rates of paintball markers have increased, active feed loaders have become extremely popular due to their ability to ensure the proper feeding of projectiles and sustain the feed rates necessary to support today's markers.
Modern paintball loaders utilize projections, paddles, arms, carriers, drive cones, or other agitators to mix or advance paintballs. These agitators are operated by motors which are often controlled by an electronic control circuit. These control circuits may utilize microprocessors in conjunction with at least one sensor configured to detect any number of parameters, including the firing of a projectile from the marker or the occurrence of a jam. These components are typically powered by a D.C. power source, such as a battery.
It is often necessary for a paintball sport player to access the interior components of a paintball loader. However, because the agitators, control circuits, power supplies, sensors, and drive mechanisms are traditionally enclosed inside the body of the paintball loader, these components can typically only be reached by partially or fully disassembling the loader. This arrangement results in difficult and time consuming maintenance, repair, and upgrade procedures.
Moreover, if a paintball breaks inside a paintball loader, there must be a convenient and efficient way to open the body and clean the paint or dye from the inside of the paintball hopper, without having to fully disassemble the loader.
Virtually all of the known solutions to the issue of gaining easy access to the interior components of a paintball loader have focused on dividing the body along a horizontal axis, essentially having a removable top or upper portion, and a lower portion housing the internal components. This still has drawbacks, and requires some disassembly. In addition, many of the internal components are still not accessible when the upper portions are removed.
Thus, there is the need for a paintball loader and feed mechanism that provides quick and complete access to the feed system components in order to facilitate maintenance, cleaning, or upgrading.